Weak Oracle sales, Cyprus fears weigh on US stocks

UNDATED (AP) - Investors are hoping some good news today will stop the slide in stocks .Oracle's weak sales results weighed down big U.S. technology companies yesterday and traders also showed they're worried about Cyprus running out of time to avoid bankruptcy.

All three major indexes felt the drag from technology stocks after Oracle reported an unexpected decline in sales in its fiscal third quarter. Oracle's results have an outsized impact on other technology stocks because it reports earlier than most of its peers.

Cyprus must raise about $7.5 billion in the next four days to avoid bankruptcy. Several plans have failed, including a proposal to tax deposits held by the nation's banks. If the Mediterranean banking haven is unable to secure a bailout, its banks will fail and it could be forced to leave the euro currency.

The Dow dropped 90 points, closing at 14,421. The S&P 500 was down 13 points to 1,545. The Nasdaq, which is weighted heavily toward tech stocks, fell a full percentage point. It closed down 31 1/2 points.